This Diamond Watch Costs $18 Million

If you thought the $10K Apple watch was pricey, the new Jacob & Co.-licensed watch costs $18 million.

Originally reported on Forbes, three factors are key to understanding the watch’s price-tag: Diamonds – and lots of them – the movement style, and the affiliation with Flavio Briatore, the creator of the Billionaire brand, which explains why it’s called The Billionaire Watch despite costing millions, not billions.

When it comes to carat weight, the watch clocks in at 260 carats of emerald-cut diamonds, which form the case along with the bracelet. In case you’re worried about fakes, each of the diamonds has been GIA-certified to validate their authenticity.

At the centre is a rectangular watch dial that features skeletonised movement. It’s handcrafted, too, and comes equipped with a tourbillon escapement.

Fun fact, the tourbillon was developed some time in 1795, then patented by the French-Swiss watchmaker Abraham-Louis Breguet in 1801. One of the main purposes of the device was to counteract gravity by placing the escapement, along with a balance wheel, in a rotating cage, thus nullifying the effect of gravity when the watch – or watch-like device – is placed in a certain position, say, upside down. Cool, right?